Zira/Main article
Physical Attributes Tan fur with a darker brown stripe down her face, red eyes, notch in left ear. Info Zira is the main antagonist in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. She is Scar's mate and extremely loyal to him through the film. She bore two cubs with Scar: Nuka, Vitani, and one with an unnamed male lion, Kovu. Zira mentions that Kovu was the last born before they were exiled, but his father's identity is unknown. She may possibly be Simba's aunt if Nuka is Scar's son. Personality Like Scar, she is bitter to the point of murder. Though acts through her son Kovu much as Scar acted through the hyenas because of her cowardice to take down her oppressor (Simba) by herself. All her hopes are placed in rearing Kovu as Scar's replica, caring little for his or her other children's welfare if it gets in the way of her plans to retake Pride Rock. In the end she is the only one left standing in her meaningless alliance to Scar and tries to kill Simba in front of everyone. She dies without redemption or regret except for herself and Scar. However despite her predominately evil traits and her harshness to her own children, she still treated them with some affection. When Nuka was in his dying breaths she soothed him and showed genuine grief once he died. The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Kovu becomes affectionate with Simba's daughter Kiara after the two cubs escape from crocodiles on the Outland borders. Simba and Zira clash over this, but the two leave without fighting. Zira plots to train Kovu so he can easily kill Simba at the right moment (the "My Lullaby" song scene). Kovu was to save Kiara from a fire (of Nuka and Vitani's own making) so he could get closer to her and in turn, Simba. Then, when Simba was alone, Kovu would kill him. The plan starts well, but Kiara and Kovu fall in love, which causes Zira to plan an ambush on Simba and Kovu while the two lions are out walking. Simba falls into a gorge during the ensuing fight, but escapes via a log dam piled up against one end of the gorge. The logs fall and crush Nuka, killing him. Zira pauses to mourn her son's demise, but quickly takes out her anger on Kovu, giving him a scar identical to Scar's. Kovu, defiant for the first time, flees for the Pride Lands as Zira declares war on Simba. Zira rallies her lionesses and they travel to the Pride Lands for the final battle. At the battle's climax, Simba and Zira are about to fight each other when Kiara and Kovu intervene and stop the battle before it can begin, convincing the Outlanders and the Pridelanders that "they are one." Vitani is the first to realize this and switch sides. Zira threatens to kill Vitani if she doesn't come back, disgusting the other lionesses, who subsequently abandon her. Enraged, Zira charges at Simba, stating that "this is for you, Scar." Kiara leaps into Zira's path, causing Zira to knock Kiara and herself off the edge of a nearby cliff, sending them both tumbling into the gorge. Kiara lands safely on a ledge, but Zira slides off the edge and hangs precariously onto it. Kiara makes an attempt to rescue Zira, but Zira swipes at her, rejecting help. Zira, having rejected aid, slips and falls into the river below and drowns. Zira's suicide In a scene that survived to the rough animation stage, Zira in effect committed suicide: Kiara offers Zira aid, but Zira, with a twisted grin, replies "No, Never." and releases her claws from the cliff, falling into the swollen river below. This was considered too dark for a Disney film and was cut, though even in the final version Zira can still be seen smiling as she falls. Similarly, Daisy Duck's suicide plot used for Donald Duck's short Donald's Dilemma has often suffered the same fate. Surprisingly, a suicide theme was used later in the 2004 Disney/Pixar film The Incredibles (however in this case it should be considered that the person wished to end his life due to emotional stress while Zira's act was a gesture of spite, as well as the fact the suicidal man in The Incredibles was a very minor character, seen twice, and Zira was a major character throughout the second Lion King film). Outside of Disney films, the exact same suicide theme was used for Naga, one of the chief villains in the anime, Monster Rancher. The episode in which he falls over the cliff on his tower in a similar fashion to Zira was skipped by the Fox channel. Category:Characters Category:Lions Category:Outsiders Category:Female Characters Category:Deceased Characters